Category: McCoy Fall 2018

After spending four long years in high school with the same people, mandatory classes, and routine schedule, I was ready for something new. In addition to wanting to escape  the regimented days of high school, I had a desire to learn more, especially about the subjects which I had grown passionate about. I decided to further my studies in history and attend college. The college decision process took time, involved incredibly difficult choices, stress, and the seemingly inevitable factor, money. While going to college and furthering my education was a big decision, I could not be happier with where I am today.

Two years ago, Geneseo, New York became my home. Relocating from Warwick, New York was a refreshing experience. After a month or so of living in Geneseo I felt that I was a part of the community. In fact, I still do to this day.

In my opinion, I am a valid member of this town. Similar to the year round residents, I eat at the same local restaurants, I run through the village streets during cross country practice, and I shop at the nearby grocery stores. Just like other members of the community, I have grown accustomed to the town’s environment and ways of living. I feed into Geneseo socially, economically, and, since I reside here most of the year, can affect the area politically.  But for some reason, as a college student I am still distinct. I am unique. So, what underlying factor distinguishes between normal town dwellers and college students?

The Answer: College students are allochthonous. Continue reading “Geneseo Is My Home”

If you had known me as a kid, you would have known that I was always either reading a book, or trying to write my own. You would have found me hidden behind the thick bamboo that grew in my childhood home’s backyard, seated on the squeaky swing of my dilapidated play-set. I would have my faithful red clipboard in hand, where I stacked sheets of cheese-doodle-stained loose-leaf paper to write my stories on.

When I got to high school, I was still actively reading and writing, whether it was writing for English class, my journal, or myself. For myself, I wrote poems and short stories that were either just for fun, or that served as a sort of emotional catharsis that got me through those rough mid-teenaged years.

At the same time, I started to become very interested in the sciences, namely physics, which I took in my last two years of high school. Inspired by my teacher, enamored with the subject, and impressed (and a bit surprised) with my performance in the class, I decided to go into college as a physics major.

Continue reading “Interdisciplinary Me”

So, clarification for everyone: I’m a freshman. Whether you are now, or were in the past, at some point I imagine you went though this rush of change. Amid the many new things I have experienced since the start of the semester, one common theme has presented itself in all of my classes; forget (almost) everything you learned in high school, because it’s a whole new ball game now. It’s as though I’m receiving an entirely new educational foundation, but at the same time, it’s different from any kind I’ve ever had.

Continue reading “A Reflection on Education”

I have always felt conflicted in regards to academics. I am passionate about learning but not about studying for a test. I am passionate about discussion but not about the multiple choice busy work homework assignments and rubric based short answer questions that follow. I love to talk endlessly about life’s bigger questions, but putting them into seamlessly organized, coherent paragraphs and crossing off every requirement of the assignment in order to secure a grade seems like a daunting task.

In class today, September 5th, we discussed how there is pressure to fully understand the material we are working with, and how it is easy to doubt yourself and your interpretation when others come forward with their differing understandings. It has become routine to fall into the trap of believing that your opinion is inferior, rather than understanding that multiple perspectives can simultaneously exist and not pose a threat to one another, rather, they can all be pieces of the same puzzle. I have done some Interfaith work through Nazareth College in my high school years, and something that community often says is “I don’t have to be wrong for you to be right.”

It is also easy to fall into the trap of dissecting the pieces we are handed objectively and making sure to “check all of the boxes” in order to successfully understand a piece. I have come to understand that this is not how to gain a new perspective and grow, not only as a reader and a writer but as a human being. It may have gotten me through high school, but it won’t get me through life.  Continue reading “For the Rubric”